A new exhibition at Newcastle Library is celebrating the 1970’s community protest movement that helped stop Blackbutt Reserve from being cut in two by a new highway.
Power to the People, 50+ Years of Union and Community Green Ban Action celebrates the 50th anniversary of the green ban movement.
Green bans were conceived by Builders Labourers’ Federation (BLF) NSW secretary Jack Mundey and were instigated at the request of, and in support of, residents’ groups.
The movement saw union members refuse to work on construction projects deemed environmentally or socially undesirable.
While many of the green bans in the early 1970s were focused on Sydney, the protest movement also made its way to Newcastle through the Newcastle Trades Hall Council.
A Newcastle green ban was enforced to help community groups stop an NSW Government plan to bulldoze more than 15 acres of Blackbutt Reserve for a 1.2 km section of Highway 23.
The road, which was being built to link the Sydney-Newcastle Expressway near Windale to the Pacific Highway at Sandgate, would have also effectively separated an additional 40 hectares of land from the main Blackbutt Reserve site.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the exhibition showcased an important time in history through the story of Jack Mundey and the green ban movement.
“Historical green bans demonstrate the value and impact that Newcastle’s communities can have when their passion and drive to protect our city’s rich natural and build environment is mobilised,” Cr Nelmes said.
Cr Nelmes said that along with the strike action to save Blackbutt Reserve, the green ban movement also helped protect historic houses in the East End.
“Power to the People 50+ years of Union and Community Green Ban Action explores green bans to save Blackbutt Reserve and Newcastle’s East End, both initiated by the BLF, Newcastle Trades Hall Council and over 25 community groups in the 1970s, which protected two extremely important features of Newcastle,” she said.
“Newcastle green bans were born in parallel with the Sydney bans from 1971 onwards, and the legacy of the movement cannot be underestimated as it led a shift towards ensuring heritage and conservation were central to planning and policy.”
Power to the People, 50+ years of Union and Community Green Ban Action has been curated by Newcastle Libraries in partnership with Cross Arts Projects, University of Newcastle and Newcastle Trades Hall Council.
The exhibition draws on archival material preserved in collections held by Newcastle Libraries, the University of Newcastle, the Hunter Living Histories, and Newcastle Trades Hall.
It features an eclectic mix of stories that depict community uprising over unequal planning, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island heritage, social housing justice, heritage buildings, land rights and conservation.
The exhibition will be on display at Newcastle Libraries’ Lovett Gallery until April 14.
Information source: City of Newcastle